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Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IX continues to be a bifurcated work filled with incongruities between its clarinet (IXa) and alto saxophone (IXb) versions. Dozens of unexplained discrepancies exist between these two versions, such as differences in pitch, rhythm and temporal duration, missing material, and expressive markings. It also appears that many technical concessions were made in regard to the saxophone version’s octave registration, low register articulations, and cut passages. Furthermore, some practical problems are associated with the saxophone version of Sequenza IX, such as unreliable multiphonic fingerings and difficult page turns. This study addresses these heretofore unresolved issues by interviewing musicians who collaborated with Luciano Berio in creating and performing Sequenza IXb, including Iwan Roth, John Harle, and Claude Delangle. This study also engages in comparative analysis of all published editions and examines Berio’s primary documents, manuscripts, and correspondence archived at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland. The genesis, development, and evolution of Sequenza IXb are illustrated through establishing a new oral chronology. An exhaustive catalogue of every observed discrepancy and change between each manuscript and edition of Sequenza IXb is created, as well. Finally, this study synthesizes the aforementioned findings to produce practical recommendations for saxophonists, including suggested changes to the score, revised program note material, alternative options for multiphonic fingerings, suggestions for navigating the problematic page turns, and performance practice considerations. The findings from this study will allow saxophonists to achieve more authentic performances and teaching of Luciano Berio’s cornerstone unaccompanied saxophone work, Sequenza IXb.

Formerly incarcerated individuals face a plethora of hardships when they reenter society that may increase their risk for future reincarceration. Documenting the expectations and experiences individuals have for reentry may provide more context for the high reincarceration rates seen in the United States and serve as an entry point for future interventions. Towards this end, the current study investigates incarcerated fathers’ expectations for reentry, their post-release experiences, and the implications of discrepancies between expectations and experiences for short-term reincarceration. Data came from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering (MFS-IP). The analytic sample consisted of 346 Black and White fathers who provided data shortly before and after their release from prison. Fathers were asked about their expectations for logistical support, financial stability, and family relationships and coresidence before release. Upon release, they reported their experiences in each of these domains. Expectations and experiences were cross-tabulated to determine whether expectations were met. Descriptive analyses indicated that there is variability among incarcerated fathers in terms of whether they expect to have their logistical, financial, and relational needs met upon reentry and whether those needs are actually met. Binary logistic regressions that were stratified by race and included controls for several theoretically relevant variables provided limited support for the predictive utility of expectations on reincarceration. Additionally, among White fathers, more unmet expectations were actually associated with decreased risk for short-term reincarceration, whereas no significant relationship was detected for Black fathers. Findings highlight the areas in which individuals can use more support and provide valuable information for policymakers as they work to support the reentry process. Furthermore, these results showcase the racialized effects of the criminal legal system and highlight the need to critically examine why such differences exist and reflect on the systemic processes that entrench them.

Within the context of clinical assessment, teachers often provide information about youth’s peer relationships. However, research on informant discrepancies has identified two mechanisms through which inconsistent reports emerge, namely contextual variability and informant perspective. Empirical investigations on the impact of informant perspective are limited, but warranted, given that previous research has indicated that adults and peers consider different behaviors to be related to social functioning. The current study sought to examine the differences in the perspective of peer acceptance between adults and peers in a community sample of 222 youth (M age = 9.26; 47.7% White, 69.8% male; 49.5% with ADHD diagnosis), while controlling for contextual variability by using a sample of previously unacquainted peers and adults. Participants engaged in a number of structured and free play activities as part of a three-hour play group and children and adults completed sociometric ratings of acceptance following completion of the group. Behavioral frequencies were coded during the play group to capture behaviors relevant to social functioning and peer acceptance. Multivariate regression models found differences in predictors of peer-assessed and adult-perceived peer acceptance and Wald’s tests of parameter equalities resulted in significantly different paths for disruptive behavior, negative expressive behavior, and aggression between peers and adults, in that adults considered these behaviors more strongly in their ratings. These findings are consistent with the theoretical mechanism of trait relevance and its influence on discrepancies through informant perspective.

The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change outlines a five-step categorization of stages that delineate an individual’s readiness to alter a behavior. This model has been used as a basis for understanding the behavioral change process and for tailoring interventions (e.g., smoking cessation and weight management). Little research exists, however, applying the TTM to behaviors among individuals with dementia (IWD) and their caregivers (CGs). Unlike many other behavior changes, the changes associated with adapting to and coping with dementia often rely on changes in both the CG and the IWD. Based on this cooperative aspect of the IWD/CG dyad, it was hypothesized that larger dyad discrepancies would predict poorer psychosocial well-being, as measured by depression, anxiety, quality of life, and relationship strain. This hypothesis, however, was not supported. This paper will discuss the literature to date, the psychometric testing of a novel Readiness to Change measure in this population, and future directions for this field.

Parental influence on college students' well being is underestimated frequently in the developmental literature. College students often set social and academic goals according to their perception of what their parents expect from them. The discrepancy between college students' performance and their perceptions of parents' expectations can impact their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine various parent-college student expectation discrepancies and communication levels as predictors for college students' psychological well being. Results revealed that college students reported experiencing higher levels of anger, depression, and anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem and college adjustment when higher expectation-performance discrepancies were present. Results also indicated that a higher perceived level of communication, particularly by the college student, served as a predictor of distress and was related to lower levels of affective distress and higher levels of self-esteem and college adjustment. Such findings underscore the importance of teaching assertive communication skills to college students and their parents as a means of diminishing the deleterious effects of perceiving one another inaccurately.

This study addresses the mental health and sexual health consequences of sexual self-concept discrepancies in a sample of African American women (N = 106), ages 18--25. Participants completed a survey that included demographic data; mental health indices; a Sexual Experiences Survey measuring age of first sex and age of first consensual sex, number of partners during one's lifetime and within the past year, drug/alcohol use before sexual activity, and condom and contraception use; the Sexual Selves Questionnaire; and the Sexual Self Summary. Using the Sexual Selves Questionnaire, participants listed words that were descriptive of the sexual self they actually were, would ideally like to be, and felt they ought to be. Discrepancies between these self-concepts were quantified to yield Actual-Ideal and Actual-Ought discrepancy scores. Actual-Ideal discrepancies were expected to be associated with dejection-related emotions, and Actual-Ought discrepancies were expected to be associated with agitation-related emotions. Results indicated that sexual self-concept discrepancies, as measured by the Sexual Selves Questionnaire, did not predict the mental or sexual health outcomes as expected. Religiosity, mother's and father's education, own income, and household income were predictors of mental and sexual health outcomes. More specifically, higher personal and household income and higher levels of paternal education were associated with more risky sexual behavior. Greater religiosity predicted better mental health and more conservative sexual behavior. In addition, proxy measures designed to capture the affective dimension of the discrepancies yielded significant findings. Women who were bothered by the difference between who they actually were and who they ideally wanted to be sexually were more likely to report dejection. In addition, women who believed that they were more sexual than they felt they ought to be had lower dejection scores and lower agitation scores. However, these women also reported a greater number of lifetime sexual partners and an increased likelihood of using alcohol or drugs before sexual activity. Results underscore the importance of investigating how African American women think about the conflicts, or discrepancies, between who they actually are sexually, who they would ideally like to be, and who they feel they ought to be.